Why Trump’s Time interview is even worse than you think
by Kerry Eleveld for Daily
Kos
The interview hit on a series of
topics that suggest that Trump's second-term agenda would greatly deviate from
what voters actually want. The progressive consortium Navigator Research combed through the interview to find
hot-button topics on which Trump's agenda is wildly out of step with public
sentiment.
Among the many policies that Trump discussed and sometimes dodged were the termination of Roe v. Wade (of which he is extraordinarily proud), a national abortion ban (which he repeatedly refused to say he would veto), and pardoning Jan. 6 rioters (he would "absolutely" consider pardoning them all).
In May 2023, Navigator polled the
idea of Trump pardoning most of the Jan. 6 rioters, which he had recently said
he would do at the time.
Among all voters, 51% said it
"raises major doubts" about him leading the Republican Party, while
35% said it did not raise doubts, and 15% said it raised minor doubts. Here is
a breakdown along party lines:
- Democrats: 80% have major doubts and 11% have no doubts
- Independents: 45% have major doubts and 34% have no doubts
- Republicans: 19% have major doubts and 62% have no doubts
In the Time interview, Cortellessa
pressed Trump on whether he would veto a national abortion ban, and Trump
declined to commit one way or the other.
Navigator polled support for a
federal abortion ban in January. It was not popular, with 66% opposed to it and
a meager 27% in support. Even Republican voters were split on the matter.
Here's the partisan breakdown:
- Democrats: 85% are opposed and 12% support
- Independents: 68% are opposed and 19% support
- Republicans: 45% are opposed and 47% support.
Trump also claimed his share of
credit for appointing several Supreme Court justices who voted to
overturn Roe.
"Every legal scholar, Democrat,
Republican, and other wanted that issue back at the states," Trump said,
advancing one of his oft repeated lies.
Legal scholars aside, a Navigator
survey in January found that 58% of voters believe that the overturning
of Roe has been "bad for the country," with just 30%
saying it's been good.
Among those opposed to the reversal
of Roe were 62% independents, 31% Republicans, and an
overwhelming 80% Democrats.
Trump didn't specifically talk about
extending his 2017 tax cuts (which overwhelmingly benefited wealthy Americans),
but Cortellessa writes that it’s one of two bills that "Trump’s team is
eyeing" as an early priority for his administration.
In March, Navigator outlined for
voters the impact of Trump's tax cuts and what an extension would mean.
"The tax law that Republicans in
Congress passed in 2017 benefited the wealthy and corporations, with them
receiving 83% of the benefits … extending the tax cuts would add $3.5 trillion
to the deficit, give wealthy foreign investors a tax break of over $24 billion
in just one year, and allow 55 large corporations to pay zero dollars in
federal income taxes,” Navigator reported. “After more information, do you
favor or oppose Congress making this tax law permanent?"
Perhaps not surprisingly, once voters
understood the broad outlines of who would benefit from an extension and what
it would cost, they largely rejected it.
Overall, 65% were opposed to an
extension with just 25% in favor. Independents opposed it 60% to 27%, and even
38% of Republicans said they were in opposition.
The polling suggested that, while tax
cuts are often enticing to voters, educating the public on Trump's tax cuts
might turn voters against them. It's an education campaign that President Joe
Biden is already embarking on.
The first-term agenda Trump laid out
during the interview was nothing short of an anti-democratic horror show. The
policies Trump supports poll poorly on their face, but they could become even
more toxic if the Biden campaign puts the time and effort into highlighting and
contextualizing them, as the Navigator polling show
